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Transcript
People and Plants on our land Introduction Roots, tubers Most of the plant products commonly eaten today in Australia have originated in other continents. The popular fruits and vegetables that we eat have origins in the wild jungles, grasslands and bushlands of many countries around the globe. In most cases, these foods were first eaten by people indigenous to the continents where the plants evolved. Plants such as carrots store energy in roots and others, such as potatoes, store energy in underground stems. These storage organs can be a rich source of carbohydrates. Some native plants in Australia and Tasmania also use this system of energy storage and contain some of the ingredients needed to become nutritional food sources for people. Many common food plants existed as inferior ancestors of the plants we know today – subsequent cultivation and selective breeding of desirable food plants has resulted in the proliferation of a select range of common food plants. While the range may seem diverse as one wanders the aisles of the fruit market, the popular varieties, especially in Australia, are but a small fraction of the plant species that have been used for food and nutrition by indigenous people. Energy storing features of the following Tasmanian plants (golden bulbine-lily, short potato-orchid, and yam daisy) have been used as food. Australian flora is unique. The isolation of the continent for millions of years has led to an evolution of a flora that shares characteristics with other continents, but also has a distinctive Australian element. All plants, with few exceptions, use the same basic means of existence – energy is harnessed from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to produce carbohydrates (starches and sugars). Mineral nutrients are collected from the soil and atmosphere and are used by the plant. The resultant growth and production of roots, tubers, seeds, fruit, nuts and vegetable matter provide people and animals with a fundamental source of nutrition. Aboriginal people have used native species as fruit and vegetables for thousands of years. Golden bulbine-lily - Bulbine bulbosa (C. Payne © Australian National Botanic Gardens) Short potato-orchid - Gastrodia sesamoides (C. Payne © Australian National Botanic Gardens) People and Plants on our land Yam daisy - Microseris lanceolata (C. Payne © Australian National Botanic Gardens) Fruit and seeds Apples, oranges, and other fruit are the parts of a plant that have evolved to facilitate reproduction and dispersal of seed. Fruits come in all shapes and sizes and occur on many of our native plants. Wild fruits are often inferior to their cultivated cousins in shape, size and flavour. However, the origins of the apples, pears and peaches that we know today were also once wild fruit in their indigenous habitat, but through cultivation and selection of certain characteristics, we have changed the wild fruit into varieties that we find more palatable. Fruiting bodies of species such as kangaroo apple (Solanum laciniatum) and native pigface (Carpobrotus rossii) have been used as food. Native pigface - Carpobrotus rossii (Photo S. Harris) Common native-cherry tree (Exocarpos cupressiformis) and coast beardheath (Leucopogon parviflorus) have been used as food in Tasmania and mainland Australia. Seed pods from the coast wattle (Acacia longifolia subsp. sophorae) can be roasted and the seeds eaten. Coast beardheath - Leucopogon parviflorus (Photo S. Harris) Kangaroo apple - Solanum laciniatum (Photo S. Harris) Common native-cherry - Exocarpus cupressiformis (C. Payne © Australian National Botanic Gardens) People and Plants on our land Stems, pith and rhizomes The starchy inner pith of some plant species provides adequate nutrition to become part of a balanced diet. The rough treefern (Cyathea australis) can be harvested and roasted – its thick inner pith was valued as an important food in many areas of Tasmania. The rough tree fern was considered superior eating over the soft treefern variety (Dicksonia antarctica). The common bracken fern also contains a starchy underground rhizome, and the bracken root was roasted and eaten with kangaroo meat as part of the staple diet of Aboriginal people. Consumption of bracken (Pteridium esculentum) would be discouraged today because it is considered to contain a human carcinogen. The sagg (Lomandra longifolia) contains a tasty and succulent leaf base that is similar in taste to raw beans or peas; the seeds are also a source of nourishment. Sagg - Lomandra longifolia (C. Payne © Australian National Botanic Gardens) Soft tree fern - Dicksonia antarctica (B. Bruen © Australian National Botanic Gardens) Medicine plants Over 500 plants in Australia are known to have been used for medicinal purposes, long before the development of synthetic drugs. For thousands of years plants have been used to treat many illnesses and to treat wounds. Pharmacology and botany were once inseparable fields of study and intricate knowledge of the curative properties of plants is developed to treat many kinds of illness. Around the world, indigenous peoples developed a deep knowledge of the plants that grow in their country. This knowledge has provided the world with substances such as aspirin, quinine to treat malaria, drugs for cancer treatment, and many other drugs that are relied upon today in Western medicine. Many more plant treatments are yet to be evaluated scientifically. Plants contain a variety of complex and sophisticated biologically active chemical compounds. Little is understood about the role of many of these compounds, however it is assumed that in many cases these chemicals may protect the plant from disease or being eaten. Often medicinal plants are shown to contain tannins, such as those found in tea, or chemical alkaloids that are physiologically active in mammals, including human People and Plants on our land beings. Examples of well known alkaloids are cocaine, strychnine and nicotine. Many species of Australian and Tasmanian plants contain alkaloids, and some of these are used by doctors to extract chemicals that are used as valuable sources of medicine. Examples are the Kangaroo apple (Solanum laciniatum), which contains steroids that are active against cancer development, and the Australian corkwood Duboisia spp., which contains an alkaloid (hyoscine) that is used to treat disorders associated with the nervous system. These plants were used by Aboriginal people long before being identified as being useful by modern science. The destruction of species and of potentially beneficial plants occurs without the awareness of the benefits they may posses. Globally, there are many plants becoming extinct, particularly in tropical regions. The properties of many of these may never be known. The properties that plants possess have the potential to provide many more benefits to enhancing the quality of life for human beings and benefiting the greater environment. Prepared by Andry Sculthorpe, Biodiversity Conservation Branch, Resource Management and Conservation Division, Department of Primary Industries and Water. Text © Government of Tasmania 2005 The Crown does not accept legal responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or relevance to the user’s purpose, or the information herein and those using it for whatever purpose are advised to verify it with the relevant source to obtain any appropriate professional advice.